Irvin Frank Sabrsula Jr.

Irvin Frank Sabrsula, Jr. was called home to be with the Lord on July 24, 2026. He passed peacefully surrounded by his loving family after waging a heroic nearly 3-year fight with pancreatic cancer. 

Irvin was born on September 18, 1949, to Irvin Sr. and Billy Sabrsula in Newgulf, Texas. He graduated as a proud "Sandcrab" from Calhoun High School in 1967. He was voted most likely to succeed by his classmates, a title he would live up to in faith, family, and service. 

From high school, he went on to study Physics at Lamar Tech, where he would also catch the eye of his future wife, Julie Anne Davidson. They wed in 1972 and remained married until his passing. The delight of his life was his family. 

After college graduation, Irv taught Physics and Math for two years in Texas City. Though he moved on from the classroom, his love of teaching would always stay with him. Despite fainting during one of his first observations, he fell in love with medicine while volunteering at a local Texas City hospital. He graduated in 1973 from UT Health Science Center Houston with a master’s degree in Nuclear Medicine. After completing his master’s degree, he went on to the University of Texas Medical School where he graduated with his Doctor of Medicine in 1978. His love of serving others led him to pursue family medicine. 

In the early 1980's he moved his young family to Lake Jackson, Texas, and opened his own private medical practice. Over the years, he would go on to serve thousands of patients in Brazoria County and around the world. He was a beloved doctor and known about town as "Dr. Sab." One of his favorite ways to serve was medical missions. Over the years, he went on countless medical mission trips to Mexico, Guatemala, Mozambique, Kenya, Cambodia, India, Nigeria, Uganda, and Indonesia. 

After selling his practice, he returned to his love of teaching. He spent the last years of his career training family practice residents for Texas A&M School of Medicine. He was loved by the students and voted Outstanding Faculty member of the year three times. Only Irv could have a heart big enough to love both The University of Texas and Texas A&M. He liked to say the Longhorns gave him an education, and A&M helped pay for his retirement. He would light up when talking about his students and mentioned on several occasions that the future of medicine was bright because of them.

Irv was a brilliant mind and avid reader. If you had an interest in any historical period, Irv could recommend a good book to you. Chances are he would probably mail you the book, a habit he often had with his children and grandchildren. Irv was a lifelong jogger and marathon runner. He loved to hike and some of his favorite hiking trips were with his sister, brother-in-law, and of course his children. 

The largest joy of his life was his family. He spent much of his life on the sidelines of various games and band concerts. A duty he loved for his children and even more for his nine grandchildren. He loved a good family vacation and loved to take his family to the movies. So much so he and his family were invited to the local cinema's grand opening where Irv cut the ribbon. He was also a lifelong fan of the Astros and delighted in taking his children and grandchildren to hundreds of games over the years. 

He was a member of First Methodist Church in Bryan. He was part of a men's Bible study group called Men on Main that he cherished and who he credits for growing his faith. In his later years, he developed a deep passion for the Word of God and loved to study it with his men's group. He regularly volunteered at the Brazos Church Food Pantry, a duty he truly loved and continued to do even while completing grueling rounds of chemo. 

Irv is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Julie, daughter Emily, daughter Erin (JT), son Scott (Brooke) and son Danny (Tricia), grandchildren Ellie, Andrew, Anna, Audrey, James, Stanley, Abby, Isabel, and Mae, and by his sister Susan Ritchhart (John), his brother-in-law John Davidson, and his uncle Elmer Sabrsula (Rose). Irv also leaves behind many cousins, nephews and friends he loved dearly.

The family would like to thank Dr. Fleener and her staff, along with the many other healthcare professionals who took great care of Irv in the last 32 months, along with the many friends and family that provided love, support, and prayers.

A celebration of life will be held on Thursday, July 30th, at 1 p.m. at the First Methodist Church in Bryan, TX, followed by a reception. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to Brazos Church Pantry located at 304 West 26th Street Bryan, TX 77802.